good morning. i'm chris jansing reporting from the center of the political universe right now, ohio. for a special jansing & company, this is hilliard. the president will be speaking here later this hour. hilliard is just outside of columbus. now, frankly county went 59% for obama in 2008. but the gop is putting up a fight here. now, the president has three stops in ohio today. he'll stay here tomorrow in the morning. mitt romney has two, plus the

stop in wisconsin. and just by looking at the candidate's itineraries, it tells you b a lot about just how important they think this state is. it's going to be an all-out fight for ohio's 18 electoral votes. it's worth repeating. no republican has ever won the presidency without ohio. just this morning, there was a better than expected jobs report. while the unemployment rate picked up to 7.9%, 171,000 jobs were created. that beats estimates by a strong margin. now, here in ohio, the unemployment rate is lower than the national average. it is 7%. late yesterday, i visited both the romney and obama campaign headquarters in columbus. when i asked people why they're giving their time and what people they're talking to are telling them, the economy is still the central issue in this campaign. >> i think the economy is not doing well and i think romney is the guy that can turn it around, gets back on track, get things going again for starters and i'm

worried about the budgets, the deficits. all my kids are in their 30s and we need the bubbling economy to move them along. >> a lot of people are hurting right now. but the president's ideology is what we need. >> i would say that the stimulus package was a really big success and i thought that, you know, i want government to play a role in our lives and i have a feeling that romney doesn't think that it should. >> let's met bring in jonathan althar. welcome to my home state. let's talk about the economy and we put it in the context of the latest poll. jonathan, is this an economy election in ohio? >> it always is. this is the heartland of america and even when the economy isn't as big as it is this year, in

ohio in particular, it's about those working class voters and whether they think that one candidate or the other is providing them with a better future. and this has been a very stable race in ohio. largely because of the senator who is taking the podium soon, sherrod brown. this is one of the hidden stories of ohio. we've heard a lot about the auto bailout being successful here. sherrod brown is still a very powerful organization of working class democrats who in the past have sometimes gone republican. this year, they're holding obama up is making him look pretty good in ohio is that he's got these working class white voters that he lacks in some other states. >> well, it is interesting, aaron, when i was talking to both the romney and obama campaign folks here in columbus yesterday, they said they're going to be watching not suburban columbus, but cuyahoga

county and a lot of those working class voters, of course, also african-american voters, but they're looking at the margins in some of those places like barack obama talk about the importance of those votes. >> let me point out about cuyahoga county. president obama beat john mccain in 2008 in cuyahoga county by a larger number of votes and he won the entire state. so it's really important for cuyahoga county. but a very important place for him to run up those margins. we will see bill clinton campaign up in akron, ohio, even further north and east of cleveland. a high point in this state. >> what we talk a lot about is what we add journalists and the talking class talk about what regular americans, ohio and they're talking about. of all the people i spoke with yesterday, only one person brought up hurricane sandy. a lot of attention was paid to michael bloomberg's endorsement.

the big picture, do those kinds of things resinate? do they matter, do you think? >> i think on a text tual level, the message coming out of hurricane sandy was bipartisanship. even if they're not monitoring events as closely here as they are in the east, they're getting kind of a good feeling about the president's ability to work with people on the other side of the section. and as far as mike bloomberg goes, viewish voters are important in ohio and jewish business voters, they look at somebody like a mike bloomberg and that gives them more of a comfort level with president obama. >> i think that's true. they've been driving all around and watching some of the local campaigns, one of the things

we'll hear president obama talk about today are gm's reaction to mitt romney and this ad that his campaign has been running. >> that's critical. >> it is critical. and local tv and local newspapers in this state, especially in the northern parts where president obama needs to do really well have been pounding mitt romney for that essentially false ad that has been debunked widely and now that chrysler and gm and their executives have come out against mitt romney, that's been a really big problem for mitt romney. >> and they're adding jobs, they're even adding jobs at the honda plant. in the end, will you both be watching the cleveland area, cuyahoga county on the list? >> and the columbus area where we are right now, which is one of the swing counties here. a very, very important. but the bottom line is turnout. if the obama/sherrod brown organization can bring out the vote, they can win this state. but, you know, a lot fewer people voted here in 2010 and

the republicans ran the table in ohio. so unless some of those 2008 voters come out again, the ones who stayed home in 2010, obama could have some trouble. they've got to come back to the polls. the indications are they will, but we don't know for sure. >> and the that is the whole point of the obama turnout operation that has been in place now for four years. the state director, greg schultz, has been on the ground in ohio since the last campaign, the last presidential campaign in 20308, putting together this big network of 2008 voters. they're doing a pretty good job and they're feeling very good about this state. going back to the point about sandy, the local tv coverage that we've seen here has been positive for president obama, not just for some of the events he's had here. bill clinton was here yesterday. but the coverage of sandy has been positive for the president. even on local television, as i had mentioned, the coverage is

relative lly positive for president obama. >> thanks to both of you who have been on the ground in ohio. back to the final jobs report, let's talk about that. the economy adding a better than expected 171,000 jobs in october. but the unemployment rate kicked up to 7.9%. some of the president's core voting groups still have a double unemployment rate, the african-american voting race. greg, if u.s. economic senator for the economist, jim, let me start with you been what's your take away from this report? what does it tell us about the status of the jobs market? >> well, it tells us that the jobs market is getting better. it's not getting better nearly fast enough for the 12 million merps who want to find work but can't. but the pace of the recovery appears to be picking up. this is good news. we're seeing increases in the creation rate for private sector employment. we're seeing some sectors, like

housing and construction starting to come back that are adding more jobs. these are very good things and signs that, while we're not anywhere close to where we need to be yet, maybe the economy really is starting to get back into that more green zone than a red zone. >> and, jim, one gray cloud in the economic report, and it is frankly what the republicans are poundsing, is what the republicans call the real unemployment rate, 14.6 of% and it includes, as you know, people who have settled for part-time work, who have stopped looking for work altogether. what can you tell us about that rate and how it might finish this overall picture? >> well, that rate was down .1% this month. it's too high. too many americans are looking for work and can't find it or are stuck in jobs that aren't paying them nearly enough as they need to get by on a living wage. so with that said, and the trend lines are good there and two other good trend lines. the unemployment rate, the overall unemployment rate ticked

up by .1% this month. but for good reasons. more people who were discouraged who aren't looking for work before are now back looking for jobs. we want to see that. and the overall labor force participation rate is rising. very good thingt. because in a healthy labor market you'll see people feel that optimism, hey, if i want a job, i can find one. >> and, jim, the other argument on the republican side is when president bush took office in january, the jobless rate was 7.8%. now it's 7.9%, basically unchanged. how do you look at that? is it good considering the enormity of the recession or does mitt romney have an argument when he says, frankly, the recovery hasn't happened fast enough? >> i think both of those arguments hold water. and here is why. it was an enormous recession. it's very unfair to just say, oh, well, it's a little higher now than it was four years ago. there was a huge dip in job creation in between there, the

massive end of the recession. but what i do think has happened is the recovery is much, much weaker than any recovery we've ever seen. only the george w. bush recovery is on par with this in terms of recovery from a recession for job creation. so what we have here is a situation that is improved from the conditions to the end of the recession. it's unquestionably improved. but not improved by enough to be anywhere near where it needs to be for the vast majority of americans who have seen their income stag nate or for the 12 million people who are still looking for work and can't find a job. >> craig, what about the stock market getting a boost because of yesterday's consumer confidence report which gives the highest rating since 2008? so that and you take in the new jobs report, what does it mean for the overall economy? >> and potentially how people feel about it and this presidential election? >> i think one of the positive things about today's unemployment report is that it corroborate rates some of the

other positive news trickling in from places like the stock market, the number of people claiming insurance has been edging down steadily. as you were saying, consumer confidence is quite high. there are those who wondered whether those were fluky numbers. another positive thing you will recall, the unemployment rate sharply and unexpectedly from 7.8%. people wondered whether it was for real. today's number, i think, confirms that that last month's improvement is for real. i think the issue for obama and romney is whether this has come too late to really change people's views on where the economy is. my best bet is that this doesn't really change attitudes in a way that really makes a big difference. if it had been a really bad number, that would have been quite negative for obama and another talking point for romney. but in some sense, i think we just neutralized the situation,

not a plus or a minus for either candidate. >> let me ask you about where i am. we won't see the ohio unemployment rate for another three weeks. the state by state rates don't come out until then. but it was 7% in december. and one of the things, if you turn on tv, if you open a newspaper that you see is this back and forth between the romney and obama campaign about jobs related to the auto industry, particularly jeep and gm. how do you see the auto bailout and how it's going to play in this election? >> well, there's no question that the manufacturing numbers have been a modest positive in few years. not up by a huge amount. we're not anywhere near getting back all the industrial jobs that we lost in the recession. but it's between then and a mild positive. ohio has been a beneficiary of that. not just in the auto industry, but in a variety of manufacturing areas. but ohio is benefiting other

areas in terms of health. the health sector is doing fairly well. the health sector is benefiting from the oil and gas deals. so modest positives on the economic and jobs front for the state of ohio. the issue, i think, for obama is that people are thinking about a lot more than just the economy and the automotive side specifically and, of course, the governor of ohio, john kasich, is tying to contribute anything that is positive to his administration as opposed to that of barack obama. >> that we have seen. jim, thank you so much. >> thank you. an update now on sandy. the u.s. navy is helping with the cleanup of the jersey shore while more than 3 million people are still without power. anger is building at the gas pumps in new jersey. line res long. stations are running out of gas. in staten islands, residents are begging for help saying they

have been forgotten. a special relief fund is being set up just for residents of the island. and transportation secretary ray la hood is heading to new jersey to talk to officials there about getting the transportation system back up and running. time for the your business entrepreneur of the week. jess carney worked boston area renaissance fairs, haunted houses and nightclubs. he hopped selling bone skulls and other mccobb items. carney hook, engages and sells for performance and mirror potential customer temperaments. for more, watch "your business" sunday morning on msnbc the.

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back live in hilliard, ohio, minutes away from the president taking the stage. let's talk a little bit about the first of three rallies for the president today. he is going to be barn storming ohio for the next 23 hours and mitt romney, we mentioned making two stops in ohio, as well. just four days left until the election. and both campaigns are claiming to have the momentum. this election will come down to turnout and the all important ground game. >> hi there.

great to be here. >> it's good to see you. we were just joking about whether or not this could be a version of the hanging chat in 2000. how close is ohio? >> it's going to be close, but this race has been very stable and very consistent. ohio is obama country. people have been voting here for a month. >> but his margins have gotten smaller. >> a little bit. it's been a four to five-point race for several weeks, and people have been voting for about a month. a good chunk of people in the states will have already voted by election day. >> big story on the front page of the "new york times." 2400 lawyers have fanned out across the state. you're doing that for a reason. >> we're always prepared for every scenario. we want to make sure that everybody who is eligible to vote has the opportunity to

vote. >> a lot of people, you have to admit, though. and they're training other people to be poll watchers. seriously, how worried are you? and how many contestants, you know, votes might there be? >> we're not worried. we have every confidence that everybody who is eligible is going to be able to vote. but we always are prepared to vote. that's why we will have people across the country so people feel confident about that. >> let's talk about the job numbers that came out today. better than expected, 177,000 jobs created. a little bit of an uptick 7.9%. some headlines tomorrow might say unemployment up 7.9%, which is factually accurate. what we're hearing is the unemployment rate is higher today than when obama took office. with fewer people in the workforce, we can't afford four more years of this. your response to those concerns,

quite frankly, that the jobs number is higher than what it was? >> well, we fully expected mitt romney and his group wasn't going to come out and endorse what the number is. we've been nearly 5.5 million jobs created. we're moving in the right direction. the question for people right now is where do they want to go from here? the president will say today, we've come too far to turn back now. >> there is a new line of attack we're hearing from mitt romney. he started it yesterday. i'm going to play a little clip right now. >> we've got to find something to suggest it's going to be better over the next four years. so we came up with an idea last week, which is he's going to create the department of business. i don't think adding a new chair in his cabinet will help add millions of jobs on main street. >> jobs, jobs, more jobs. it's what i've been hearing since i've been on the ground since yesterday here in ohio. the other reporters have been on the ground for weeks.

hearing the same thing. in the end, what is going to make the difference here and in these other crucial states? >> i think it's three things. who is your candidate? who are they fighting for? what kind of ground game do you have? we feel we have a ground game second to none. and what are you offering to the middle class? we feel we have a better deal. mitt romney is resorting to all sorts of crazy tactics right now. they have an ad in ohio right now that's simply scaring workers and laying out false statements about a plant and workers. and the president will talk about that today. we don't need to resort to that. we need to lay out the choice. the president will do that and the american people will make their decisions tuesday. >> do you think that ad has been back firing? >> we do. it's been dominating the air waves. it's been fact checked by everyone. >> they're talking about it, as you know. they haven't backed off at all, even with the statements that were put out by the auto

companies. >> well, we have faith in the intelligence of the american people and the people in ohio. they know the president saved the auto industry. they know one in eight jobs in ohio is dependent on the auto industry. and, you know, the facts help us here. >> let me finally ask you about sandy because the parking lot president said he was feeling that the horrible effects of this storm and, frankly, they're still being felt. there are major gas shortages. there's been some criticism about staten island being ignored. it's hard to know right now how bad a lot of people, particularly millions of people are going to be feeling. and although they might not feel it here, in columbus, or in wisconsin or in virginia, there are a lot of images on tv that are very disturbing. the early reviews for the president has been good, but if it lingers and the overall feeling is desperation that we're seeing in the headlines and on the television shows, is that a problem for the president? >> look, i've been with the president the last 24 hours.

he was nearly losing his voice last night because he spent so many hours on the phone with governors and first responders and people in mobile communities. there's two realities. recovering from the storm, he's focused on that every single day, every moment of every day. he may even be a phone call right now. there's also an election in four days. he's trying to strike a balance between the two. he's focused every single moment on this storm and making sure people have the resources they need. >> finally, let me bring it back to ohio. i printed out three pages of campaign schedules. we all know in the dwindling days of the campaign, you guys have a lot of money, mitt romney has a lot of money. the air waves have been bought. there is nothing more precious than the time of a candidate. you're in ohio more than you are anywhere else. is there any doubt, obviously, then in the minds of the campaign that what happens here is going to be where the election turns? >> we're very confident about

our path in ohio. we've been consistently up here. >> but you're spending a lot of time here. >> we are. because ohio is an important state. there are other important states, too. but no question, without ohio, mitt romney has a narrow and probably insurmountable path to the presidency. we feel great about where we are. mitt romney needs this state to win. otherwise, it's difficult to see what his path is. >> jen, thank you for being here. thank you for running over from the campaign bus. thank you so much. campaign volunteers for both parties have been out in full force, inundating ohio voters with phone calles and door to door knocks. i talked to some of them about the level of enthusiasm you're seeing in this battleground he center. >> there's a lot of republicans. if i heard the joke, if i could vote twice i'd do it. if i hear it one time a day, i hear it 50 times a day. people are really excited. there's going to be a big, big turnover out election day. >> a lot of people have been a

little bit upset or mad at the government, both sides of the parties. they've just had it, both sides, and they want something. >> you don't see any romney people on campus walking around. you don't see them registering voters. you don't see them walking or talking to students, reminding them why the election is so important. but you do see that every single day here in this office. >> there's really a lot of motivation on campus. i know that a lot of people say there's not. a lot of student participation in politics. but i'm hearing that everyone is talking about politics. ♪

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for the obama and romney campaigns. similar route maps for romney. joining me now as political reporter for the "columbus dispatch," joe barton, good to see you. >> great to be here. >> i know your paper endorsed mitt romney. but tell me about wa you're sensing on the ground. how close is this? does one side of the other have the edge? >> it's going to come down to the bull pen. if i had to pick a side, obama by a hair. but i mean, it really could go either way. it comes down to who turns out to vote. >> maybe the most fascinating thing i found yesterday and going to their headquarters, my family is here. a lot of the workers on both sides were telling me the expense, they've done this before, fewer people that they were calling were hanging up.

more people were inviting them in or engaging them in conversation when they went door to door. there has been some concern about the deluge of advertising, whether it was express turnout. how engaged do you think voters are? >> i think they are very engaged. if you were to go over there and just grab the average voter or pick an issue, what they would say in response is very well informed. i mean, it's almost surprising just how well they can recite the facts. in some cases, the talking points of either side. but they really seem to know. it's an important election to them. >> well, it does become interesting because when you hear about talking points and those of us in the media get tired of them. but then you hear the average voter singing them back to you. >> 202 jobs being added at honda, big story on the inside and there has been this back and forth about this romney ad.

you see the car being crushed and making claims that are false, the jobs are being moved out of china to make jeep which, in fact, gm is doing very well, chrysler doing very well. earnings are up. how much are people talking about that? >> they are talking about it and they talking about it all over the state, whether you're here in columbus but especially in northern ohio. i was with governor romney on thursday night when this really all started. he was in defiance and he made a reference to an article he had read making the claim that jeep was considering moving all manufacturing jobs to china or the jeep's owner, fiat. and almost right away, you were able to find that, well, that's not really what the company has said. and instead of -- >> so what's their strategy? it has been discredited, fact checked and found to be false. even had the companies putting out statements saying it's not true. but they're sticking with it. we're going to hear the

president talking about it now. what's the romney campaign strategy? >> well, i mean, you can go back to 2004 and look at karl rove. and the idea is attack the opponent's strength. the auto bailout has been a strength for the president here in ohio. the romney campaign appears to say, look, we're going to go at them. you know, the press will say what they're going to say, but to try to throw some pieces out. >> jen was just saying that the democrats are confident that everybody who wants to vote will be able to vote. but this state is the election employer full employment act. 2,500 lawyers and they're training thousands more people who are not lawyers to come in and help and be poll watchers. how difficult could it be on election day? and do you think that on november 7th we're going to see a lot of challenges, something that could even leave the final decision in this state up in the air? >> rather than talk about what i think, i would just like to say i hope that doesn't happen.

i think the country wants to know who the president is late on november 6th. the second of state here, john houston, he's a republican. he's been in the news a lot lately for several ropes, pro and con for him. he is confident that we'll know who the president is or at least who wins ohio sometime on november 6th, early november 7th. we hope that's the case. >> the atlantic essentially called him the man who will decide this election. .there's no doubt that he has been at the forefront of some voters suppression efforts. >> well, you know, in his defense, that's not exactly true. the republican legislature here originally tried to enact some new voting lawes and tried to introduce, actually, a voter i.d. law and secretary houston took it -- basically took a stand against it that nipped that one, anyway. you know, he has been at the center of some other

controversies, but like i say, he's straddle dollars the line there. >> well, we are going to see what happens on november 6th. it's great to have you here. say hello to my friend -- >> thank you very much. thank you so much. there we are, awaiting president obama. we want to remind you about ways to help hurricane sandy victims, as well. you can also donate directly to the red cross by calling, by going to the website or you can text 90999 just to donate $10. with the theory of relativity, the next... stop, stop, stop! my car! not so much. but that's okay. you're covered with great ideas like optional better car replacement from liberty mutual insurance. total your car, and we give you the money to buy one a model year newer. learn about it at libertymutual.com. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility -- what's your policy?

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mitt romney reacting to the latest job numbers. today's increase in the unemployment rate is a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual stand still. the jobless rate is higher than it was when president obama took office and there are still 23 million americans struggling for work. on tuesday, america will make a choice between stagnation and prosperity. when i'm president, i'm going to

make real changes that lead to a real recovery so that the next four years are better than the last. well, stocks are lower despite today's better than expected jobs report. cnbc's mandy drury is here with what's moving your money. what's going on, mandy? >> hey there, chris. stocks are now lower, but they did initially tick higher after that report basically showing that employers stepped up their hiring last month 171,000 jobs. and they say hiring was also stronger for the previous months of august and september. the unemployment rate -- and this is a tricky one. because even though it inched up to 7.9%, that's only because more people, i guess, are feeling confident that they can get a job so they're getting out there and they're looking for work so, therefore, they're countered as unemployed. >> car buyers, meantime, are maybe in for a little bit of sticker shock. superstorm sandy could hit them in the wallet.

>> yeah, you know, it's an interesting one here. obviously here in the northeast, you know, we're all suffering from superstorm sandy. but you know what? in the weeks to come, even consumers as far away as the west coast could potentially -- particularly here in the market for a car because thousands of vehicles have been damaged here to the point where they really do need to be replaced and that could drive up prices of both new and used vehicles in the weeks and months ahead and also remember a lot of dealerships here in the northeast have sustained a lot of damage to their inventory, as well, to the cars that they had out on their lots. complicating matters, used vehicles have been in short supply because of declining sales of new vehicles. so the only thing i can find here, chris, in terms of a silver lining is if you are looking to trade in your car, you may potentially get a better price. back over to you. >> krn's mandy drury, thank you. and as we wait for the president here in hilliard,

ohio, i want to bring back jonathan, author of "the promise" and erin mcpike. what they can see over our shoulder is that david axlerod is there. we were shouting questions at him. he told me he thinks they'll win ohio by 2% to 3%, but like the romney campaign, as well, jonathan, this is coming down to a handful of states on that one. >> i think with the jobs report, the external events, unless something really out of the blue, a real november is the drive, the external events now repeated and this is -- the election. it's about the level of turnout. we all know obama people can do organizational muscle on election day. and if they do, we should be okay in ohio. if they don't, if there's a big

falloff in turnout and it's more like 2010, then mitt romney could win. >> we talk about the last few states that we're seeing. i've been hearing from republicans that wisconsin looks like it might be a better state for mitt romney at this point than ohio is. the obama state does feel -- i would point out that the romney campaign does, too, because they have different kinds of -- that both show them up. we don't know what the real model is like and what it's going to look like. but i would say even republicans i've talked to in this state have said that mitt romney and ohio -- >> well, republicans feel like they're going after a wider swath of vote erts. they feel like they're going after not just their core, their base, but they're looking at disenchanted obama voters and they say they ever targeted them, they know where they are and they think that gives them the edge. >> and switch and that's what a

lot of their advertising has been focused on. but in wisconsin, i don't know, there was just a new state poll by one of the papers in wisconsin that showed obama up by eight. now, that's probably on the high end, but there's not any real concern right now in the obama camp that they're in danger of losing wisconsin. they're sending the president there just to try and nail it down because they don't want to leave any stone unturned. but right now, you get a sense of growing confidence in the obama camp. they feel like they're going to be okay. >> well, and here is the reason why. of all these battleground states, the president needs to win just three in order to win a second term to get 271 electoral votes and those are nevada where there are six votes, wisconsin where there are ten and here in ohio, there are 18. and winning just those three of all these battle grounds gets you to 271 in a very narrow win, but that's what would do it for him and they feel very good about those three states. >> assuming they hold pennsylvania.

>> that's true. that is a big point right there. >> i think there's a sense that florida might be moving in romney's direction. structurally, that's always been the most problematic of the battleground states for obama. and if i were betting, i would bet romney carries florida. >> and we're hearing from the romney side that there's a bit of a head fake there. >> it may be. what a lot of strategists have told me is if you're going to make a play for a state, you need to do it at least three weeks before election day. so one week out, not even a full week, makes it tough. it might be too little too late for mitt romney where they are spending a lot of money at this last minute. but they've got a lot of money to spend. >> it's less a head fake than a hail mary ad. if they carpet bomb them with mitt romney and barack obama ads, negativity has been driven

up in pennsylvania with bain ads. he's actually more popular in pennsylvania than he is in ohio and some of these other states that have been suggested in the obama ads. so it's a bit of a sneak attack. pennsylvania hasn't conrepublican in ten years. and pennsylvania sort of like ohio is not really hurting. if there was a lot of anger and hurt in pen opinion right now in the middle part of the state, which tends to be more republican, pittsburgh at one end, philadelphia at the other end and alabama in the middle. if there was more anger in alabama, mitt romney might have a better chance there. >> and we should say the president is being introduced right now. as soon as the penalty starts speaking, we'll -- >> here is a question i get asked a lot. . >> how about the money and the sheer volume of ads out there?

social media has changed things a lot. 24-hour cable has changed things a lot and the total saturation. so what do these events mean in the closing days of the campaign, erin? that's what people ask me. >> what they're doing is energizing the supporters of either mitt romney or president obama. and at each of these events, there are volunteers outside who sign up all of these reporters who do last-minute calls who are knocking anything they can do to pull out every last voter they can in swing districts? >> there's no sput for showing up. and local and regional media is critically important. and to get that, you have to have either the candidate or the surrogate in these media markets to show presence. if you don't show up, if you don't have presence, it's difficult to come up with on election day. you know, we assume it's

accurate. it can also be terribly inaccurate. because it's more arts and science in a lot of ways. it depends on what your likely voter screens are to use a technical term, like how do you define a likely voter? there's a whole other variable. does that help obama? or does it mean that, you know, you have fewer targets of opportunity to bring to the polls on election day? obviously, in 2008, everybody who helped obama, that's why republicans tried to suppress early voting. in many states, they tried to cut it back. they failed in ohio. >> i don't know if you can hear me, but the 2,800 people here in hilliard, ohio region are screaming. the president of the united states has just been splused and

is about to take the stage. as we wait for him to get to the microphone, let me ask you, you've been hearing about the sights and the sounds. does that tell us anything? >> i will say that the size of romney's crowds have gone down in the last week and president obama's has gone up. >> i think they're totally irrelevant. it's just about how you deploy resources. >> here he is. >> oh- >> i-o. >> o-h -- >> -- i-o. >> it's good to be back. can everybody give judy a big round of applause for the great introduction. you know, judy is an example of all the incredible volunteers who have been involved in this campaign each and every day knocking on doors, making phone calls. i love all of you and i'm grateful to all of you for all the great work you guys have done.

give it up for your former governor, our great friend, ted strickland. poor ted has a cold. he's backstage. he wouldn't shake my hand. he's sick, but he's still out campaigning. now, i love you back and i'm glad to be here. you know -- i can tell this is kind of a rowdy crowd. all right. all right.

thank you. well, listen, you know, for the past few days, all of us have been focused on one of the wfrt storms in our lifetimes, in our history. and i just got off the phone with my team, emergency management team and got an update on what's happening in new jersey and new york and connecticut, west virginia where there's a whole lot of snow. you know, as a nation, we mourn those who were lost. you know, you can only imagine what so many families are going through right now. and the message i've said every time i talk to people back east is we stand with the people of new york and new jersey and connecticut every step of the way, every step of the way in the hard weeks ahead. and there's a lot of work that

still remain toes be done. but we've also been inspired these last few days by the heros who are running in the buildings and waiting for water and the neighbors who are helping neighbors cope with tragedy. the leaders of different parties working together to fix what's broken. a spirit that says no matter how bad the storm is, no matter how tough times are, we're all in this together. we rise or fall as one nation and as one people. and, you know, that spirit is what's guided this country for more than two centuries, that idea that we're in this together. it's carried us into the trials and tribulations of the last 200 something years, but also the last four years. in 2008, we were in the middle of two wars and the worst economic crisis since the great

depression. and today, our businesses have created nearly 5 1/2 million new jobs. and this morning, we learned that companies hired more workers in october than at any time in the last eight months. the american auto industry is back on top. home values and housing construction is on the rise. we're less dependent on foreign oil than at any time in the last 20 years because the service and sacrifice of our brave men and women in uniform, the war in iraq is over. the war in afghanistan is ending. al qaeda has been decimated and osama bin laden is dead. we have meal made real progress.

this guy had a lot of coffee this morning. you're fired up. okay. so listen, hold on a second. we have made real progress, but we are here today because we know we've got more work to do. as long as there's a single american who wants a job and can't find one, as long as there are families working harder but falling behind, as long as there's a child anywhere in this country whose languishing in poverty and barred from opportunity, our fight goes on. we've got more work to do. our fight goes on because this nation can't succeed. without a growing, thriving middle class. our fight goes on because

america always has done best when everybody has a fair shot and everybody is doing their fair share and everybody is playing by the same rules. that's what we believe. that's why you elected me in 2008 and that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states of america. >> four more years. four more years. four more years. four more years. >> ohio, in four days, off choice to make. and by the way, i think you may have noticed that everybody is paying a lot of attention to ohio. and rightfully so. this is a choice not just between two candidates and two parties. it's a choice between two

fundamentally different america peps it's a choice between going back to the policies that crashed our economy or advancing the kinds of policies that will make sure we've got a strong and growing middle class. that's the choice. you know, as americans, we honor the drivers and the dreamers, the risk takers, the entrepreneurs and the small business people. they're the folks who have always been the driving force behind our free enterprise system. and it's been the greatest prosperity of growth they've ever known. but we also believe in this country that people succeed, people start businesses, people work well in business when he is they've got a decent education. when they get a chance to learn new skills. when we support research in the medical breakthroughs or new technology. we think america's stronger when we can count on affordable health care and medicare and social security. when there are rules to protect our kids from toxic dumping and

mercury pollution. we think the market works better when consumers are protected from unscrupulous prices in the credit card industry or from mortgage lenders and we believe that no politician in washington should control health care choices that women can make for themselves. these are the things we believe. now, eight years ago, we had a president who shares our beliefs and his name was bill clinton. his economic plan asked the wealthiest americans to pay a little more so we could invest in ideas and our future. and at the time, a republican congress and a senator by the name of mitt romney said bill clinton's plan would hurt the economy and kill jobs. it turns out the governor's math was just as bad back then as it was today.

because by the end of president clinton's second term, america created 23 million new jobs. and incomes were up and poverty was down and we had the biggest surplus in our history instead of deficits. so we know the ideas that we believe na. work. we know that their ideas dent work. for most of the -- we tried what they wanted to do. giving big tax cuts to the wealthiest americans we couldn't afford. we tried giving wall street and the ability to do what they pleased. you know what we got? falling incomes, job deficits, the slowest job growth rates in centuries and an economic climate that we've been cleaning up for the last four years. so we know what we want to do works. we know wa they want to do

doesn't work. we know what we want to do grows our middle class. what they want to do squeezes the middle class. we know that our strategy is to make sure that we bring our deficit down in a balanced way. their strategy ends up shooting the deficit up. so we know what the right choice is, but let's face it, governor romney, ee a very talented salesman. in this campaign, he's tried as hard as he can to repackage these same policies and offer them up as change. but we know what change looks like. and what the governor is offering ain't it. giving more power back to the biggest bank, that's not change. another $5 trillion tax cut in favor of the wealthy, that's not change. refusing to answer questions about the details of your policies until after the

election, that's not change. we've seen that before. right inspect we've seen that before. ruling out compromise by pledging the rubber samp to the tea party's agenda in congress, that's not change. >> no. >> and by the way, when you try to change the facts, just because they're inconvenient to your campaign, that's definitely not change. you know, trying to massage the facts, that's -- that's not change, that's just -- look, you know, we have been seeing this. how the governor romney and his friends over the last few weeks. right here in ohio.